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The Steve Laube Agency

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Home » publishing » Page 2

publishing

The Anatomy of the Publishing Cycle

By Steve Laubeon March 23, 2015
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If you ask an editor or an agent “What’s hot right now?” you are too late with the question. The nature of the publishing business is that what you see selling today are books that were conceived, written, published, and marketed over the past couple years or more.

That is why we, on this side of the table, avoid making pronouncements on current trends. In some ways the agent and the acquisitions editor are like the Scout who is sent ahead by the main patrol or army to figure out the lay of the land so they can form a strategy for the future.

Publishing often follows a cycle that become the engine behind a trend. Some are concept or genre specific while others are more generic in nature. Let’s explore, in a simplified fashion the anatomy of the publishing cycle.

Something Hits Big

Whether it is the Amish novel, the “parable” business book (Who Moved My Cheese?), Edwardian settings (i.e. Downton Abbey), heavenly visitation stories (Heaven is for Real), Twilight, Jesus Calling, or something like Fifty Shades of Grey…a book or genre will hit big. It can be either fiction or non-fiction. No one can predict how this happens or when it will happen. If they could they would manufacture the next big thing every week.

To the Races

When something does hit, the readers clamor for more and the machinery of writers, editors, and agents are galvanized to see if they can capitalize on the phenomenon after determining if what is selling has staying power. And not everything has staying power.

Chick-lit is the perfect example. Over a decade ago it was the “can’t-go-wrong” genre…until it wasn’t. The interest in that type of book died so quickly it caught a bunch of publishers holding contracts and forthcoming books by the dozens that were doomed.

Some writers are fortunate in that their interests and work is suddenly “hot” even though they had been laboring without success writing that type of book for years. This can be a wonderful serendipity.

The Inevitable Glut

Within a year or two the machinery noted above has lumbered its way to producing massive amounts of books that follow those trends.

Think of the number of “vampire” books that came out after the success of Twilight. Or the number of Amish novels that came out after 2006…so much so that it is no longer a “trend” but created its own genre! Or the number of YA dystopian novels that followed the success of Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner.

The danger here is that editors can become fatigued by all the “me too” proposals. To the point that over a year ago I heard multiple times, “No dystopian novels, please!” The irony is that the readership is still strong while the publishers and booksellers are less enamored.

The Winnowing Begins

Eventually the fatigue becomes real and whatever was hot is no longer “hot.” This means a new book of that type may sell half or less than what it would have if it had been released two years ago. It doesn’t mean the genre is dead, just that the threshold for a book to sell well is more difficult and the stories have to much better written.

Writers who stops selling as well are not re-signed by their publishers. And their modest sales numbers become part of their writing sales history that makes a new publisher reluctant to try them out. This is an ugly reality. I wish I could be a cheerleader and make everyone feel good, but this is what happens. We who’ve been around a long time have watched it time and again. Some writers adapt and shift gears and are able to re-start in a new or tangential genre. Others give up or fade away. Each author’s situation is different, and it is one way a good agent can guide you.

The Cycle Begins Again

I still remember a time when no publisher wanted new historical novels. No…I’m not talking about last week. I’m talking about the Summer of 2004. I had a historical novel proposal by a bestselling author and we shopped it around the industry. No one wanted it with rejection after rejection filling the in-box. They all wanted contemporary chick-lit. Eventually I sold the proposal after seven months of work. But that is not the “rest of the story.”

Ironically, a couple years later I was talking to an editor who asked, “I’m really looking for a strong historical project by a top author” and then named my client. I sputtered and said, “You could have had the author, but you turned the project down two and a half years ago!” We nervously laughed and talked about the inevitable cycle of publishing.

Chase the Rabbit or Stand Firm?

Trying to write to the trends is a bit like trying to catch a rabbit who doesn’t want to get caught. You might get lucky, but usually you’ll come up empty handed.

Instead of chasing the rabbit, my encouragement is to stand firm in what you are called to write and to your strengths as a writer. That doesn’t mean there will be a magic moment when everyone lines up to buy your book…you may need the time to learn the craft or the industry. I know of one author who spent ten years going to writers conferences learning the craft and the editors. One day, one of those editors moved to a new publisher and in a meeting someone said, “We should be publishing this type of book.” The editor raised her hand and said, “I know someone whose been writing that very thing and he’s not under contract.” The phone call was made and that author has since won two Christy Awards and published nearly twenty novels.

At the same time, there is a difference between standing firm and being stubborn. There are proposals I’ve seen that simply do not have the commercial “zing” that publishers are looking for. But the author doesn’t hear that and doubles down on the same manuscript  hoping that the market will change. Unfortunately I can only render my opinion based on experience and an understanding of today’s marketplace. You must exercise wisdom and discernment to determine if your project is one that should be set aside for another time or if it is truly something that will work some day.

 

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Category: Book Business, Branding, Career, Creativity, Indie, Marketing, TrendsTag: publishing, The Publishing Life, Trends

How Publishers Make Decisions

By Dan Balowon September 23, 2014
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We all agree that book publishing is changing fast. New technology, new formats and new ways to sell books have changed everything.  Well, almost everything. One thing has not changed…the fundamental way decisions are made as to what new authors an agent represents and publishers publish. It has always been and remains people making quick, subjective decisions (aka QSD). A number of years ago I …

Read moreHow Publishers Make Decisions
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, The Publishing LifeTag: Book Business, publishing, The Publishing Life

What is One Thing You Wish You Had Known?

By Steve Laubeon August 18, 2014
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Reg Forder, at his ACW writer’s conferences, likes to ask the faculty panel the question, “What is one thing you wish you had known before you became a writer?” Since I joined the publishing side of things after being a bookseller and later became a literary agent I have to give the question some thought. Coming from retail, the hardest thing to grasp was the amount of time it …

Read moreWhat is One Thing You Wish You Had Known?
Category: Book Business, CareerTag: Book Business, Career, publishing

8 Things Authors Should No Longer Ask Their Publisher

By Dan Balowon August 12, 2014
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Publishing is changing faster than ever before.  Book publishers have been wrenching to find new business models that make them more flexible, efficient and adaptable to the realities of the digital publishing age. Within this fast-change world, another group who has felt the pain of shifting tectonic plates are authors who have been around publishing for ten or more years.  Some issues that used …

Read more8 Things Authors Should No Longer Ask Their Publisher
Category: Book Business, CareerTag: Book Business, Career, publishing

A Brave Heart

By Dan Balowon June 24, 2014
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The 2014 Christy Awards were held last night in Atlanta, Georgia. Check the Christy Award’s website for the winners and other information. Three years ago in 2011, when the International Christian Retail Show was last held in Atlanta, the keynote speaker for the Christy Awards was Randall Wallace, who had a novel about to release from Tyndale House. Mr. Wallace is known for his writing and work in …

Read moreA Brave Heart
Category: Awards, Book Business, Creativity, Dan, ICRS, The Publishing LifeTag: Book Business, Christy Awards, publishing, The Publishing Life

A Matter of Experience

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 19, 2014
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Sometimes I’ll have one of those days where I’m minding my own business, when I pick up the phone to discover the author on the other end of the line is irate. (No, this is not a rerun of an article from the 20th century. I do still have a land line for my office). “Ohhh, Tamela! I know that Hell is indeed located on Earth and where is it? It’s at my publisher’s …

Read moreA Matter of Experience
Category: Book Business, Career, Communication, Tamela, The Publishing LifeTag: Book Business, Career, publishing, The Publishing Life

Actually, The World is Pretty Big

By Dan Balowon May 27, 2014
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At one time or another, every one of us have remarked how small the world is, usually caused by meeting someone by chance and finding out that you both know a certain person, or went to school with the person, are both reading the same books, are fans of the same team, etc. But you might be surprised how a “small” view of the world can alter your entire perspective. I am not referring to a …

Read moreActually, The World is Pretty Big
Category: Book Business, Branding, Dan, Get Published, Marketing, Platform, The Publishing Life, Trends, Writing CraftTag: publishing, The Publishing Life

Stories in Hiding Places

By Dan Balowon April 15, 2014
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Since I blog on Tuesdays and the next April 15 to fall on a Tuesday is not for another eleven years, I felt like I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. Corrie ten Boom was born on this date in 1892 and died on this date in 1983.  If Evangelicals were in the habit of naming saints, she would be among them. For those unaware of this great Christian woman, she and her family helped many Jews escape the …

Read moreStories in Hiding Places
Category: Book Review, Christian, Dan, Faith, Personal, Writing CraftTag: Book Review, Faith, publishing, Reading

What About Medium Stuff?

By Dan Balowon April 8, 2014
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Today I stand in support of medium stuff. There is no argument that big important things deserve our undivided attention. There seems to be some disagreement over small stuff…do we sweat it or not? According to the Stan Jantz and Bruce Bickel’s book, God is in the Small Stuff, we probably need to be paying close attention to those things. I am concerned with those things in the middle…the medium …

Read moreWhat About Medium Stuff?
Category: Book Business, Career, Dan, The Publishing LifeTag: Book Business, publishing, The Publishing Life

How to Be A Publisher’s Favorite Author

By Dan Balowon March 11, 2014
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Three years ago, Seth Godin published his book Linchpin.  Since I follow Seth’s books and blog as a personal and professional challenge, I read it and was inspired by it’s concepts. In it, Godin speaks about some of the new realities in business relationships.  There used to be management and those who were managed.  But now, he says, there is a third group…linchpins.  These are people who make …

Read moreHow to Be A Publisher’s Favorite Author
Category: Book Business, Branding, Career, Dan, PlatformTag: Authors, Career, publishing
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